Issues with INSAS Rifle
Nation’s mood was upbeat after Indian army conducted surgical strikes across the LoC as India demonstrated its hardened military resolve to the world. However, when we dig little deeper, we find that despite being second largest army in world; and despite being surrounded by hostile neighbours in three sides; Indian army is crippled with lack of basic necessities, shortage of critical equipments and weapons; and bureaucratic tangle that hold of many purchases. On glaring example is the INSAS (INdian Small Arms System) rifle which is being used by Indian army since 1998. The army complaints that its orange coloured stock and butt compromises the camouflage of the soldiers. Army’s efforts to get the rifle’s colour changed have failed so far.
Further, during the 1999 Kargil War, the rifles were being used in the high-attitudes of the Himalayas. There were complaints with respect to jamming, the magazine cracking due to the cold and the rifle going into automatic mode when it was set for three-round bursts. There was also a problem of oil being sprayed into the eye of the operator.
In 2015, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Delhi High Court claiming that the lack of a modern rifle was causing soldiers to lose their lives.
In response to all these issue, the Excalibur is to be inducted into the army. The Excalibur is a fully automatic rifle which fires 5.56mm ammunition and is an upgraded version of the current INSAS.
It is to be indigenously produced which would lead to saving crores of foreign exchange and boosting local manufacture and ultimately triggering Make in India abiding by the government of India’s indigenisation thrusts. The Excalibur is a DRDO-designed assault rifle.
The Excalibur is an improved version of the INSAS rifle which fires 5.56×45 mm ammunition. It is fully automatic in capability over the INSAS which can only fire a three-round burst.
Once trials will be complete, Excalibur rifles will be inducted into the army within two years for around INR36 billion or around INR60,000 each which is half the cost of imported rifles.
A modern, reliable assault rifle is the very basic and primary necessity for an infantry soldier who is posted either on the border or deployed for counter militancy missions in the hinterland. To plug this major operational void, indigenously designed Excalibur 5.56 x 45 mm assault rifle is a welcome move.
